Sensex falls over 100 points on foreign fund outflow, rising oil prices

Mumbai: Benchmark indices turned volatile after opening higher on Tuesday on foreign fund outflows, surging global crude oil prices, weak rupee and negative global cues.

The 30-share index fell 124.63 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 36,180.39, after touching a high of 36,454.03 at the outset. The gauge has lost 1,785.62 points in the previous five sessions. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell by 33.40 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 10,934.

Sectoral indices led by realty, FMCG, banking, power, consumer durables and auto stocks were in the negative terrain, with losses up to 0.87 per cent.

The big losers were Bharti Airtel, M&M, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, SBI and TCS, losing up to 3.43 per cent. In contrast, Yes Bank, ONGC, Asian Paint, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Coal India and RIL gained up to 1.90 per cent and capped the fall.

Sentiment remained weak on prevailing liquidity concerns and sustained capital outflows by foreign funds, apart form crude oil prices reaching the USD 81 a barrel mark to trade at four-year high of USD 81.28 a barrel, brokers said. The rupee too depreciated by 33 paise to 72.96 against the US dollar in early trade at the interbank forex market.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 523.94 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,527.67 crore on Monday, provisional data showed. Most Asian stocks fell as trade tensions between the US and China intensified with the more tit-for-tat tariffs.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.19 per cent, China's Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.76 per cent in their early sessions. Hong Kong markets were closed Tuesday for a public holiday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.68 per cent down on Monday.